Zimbabwe by Heather Dube

Image - Sokwanele - Zimbabwe

 

I love her too
she may be young
but this beautiful mother's milk is sour to her
children
her babies who never cry
but mumble in silence and fear
bathi umntwana ongakhaliyo ufela
embelekweni*
the great dzimbaremabwe**
is weathering
each granite stone falling hard on a blood
stained soil of the chimurenga***
only to crumble to dust pounded by once a
hero now a villain
blown by the harsh stinking breath of a
ruthless self to land in the hands of
xenophobia.
She is still a beauty
I love her too
I can only hope and pray
the tears drenching her youthfulness to dry
up soon
I love her
I love Zimbabwe

*A child that don’t cry dies on its mother’s back

**House of stone

***War of liberation

Beulah Needs Another Man by Donal Mahoney

Image - livingincinema.com

Beulah needs another man who'll take

the garbage out at dawn and not

bring it back again at midnight, something

Jasper's done many nights for years.

Beulah knows when Jasper's found

another woman but she never says a word

because Jasper always mows the lawn

and rakes the leaves and fixes

things around the house unlike

Homer who was never handy.

But yesterday the doctor said Jasper has

six months to live so Beulah wants to meet

another handy man at Jasper's wake.

She met Jasper at a wake the day

he dropped the lid on Homer's coffin.

‎** Fatality ** by Zebb OkaNsingo

As we speed along life’s highway
What happens to our dreams
when our chatter turns to screams
and our breath shrieks out of our bodies
When we screech across the tarmac
Eyes wide open in shock
Mouths agape in terror
Flesh tearing apart
What happens to our hopes
As we enter the darkness